In State v. Polk, Slip Opinion No. 2017-Ohio-2735, the Ohio Supreme Court held that a “school’s protocol requiring searches of unattended book bags—to determine ownership and whether the contents are dangerous—furthers the compelling governmental interest in protecting public-school students from physical harm [and * * *] that the school employees’ search of the unattended […]

In Routson-Gim-Belluardo v. Ohio Dept. of Edn., 2017-Ohio-2611, an Ohio appellate court “affirmed the resolution of the Ohio State Board of Education [“State Board”] to revoke [a teacher’s] teaching license for engaging in conduct unbecoming an educator” where the evidence showed that the teacher gave students information in advance of taking a standardized test that […]

In Pike-Delta-York Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Pike-Delta-York Edn. Assn., 2017-Ohio-1476, an Ohio appellate court found that an arbitrator exceeded his power and authority by awarding the grievant a supplemental contract to serve as the head softball coach for the 2015-2016 school year because the 2015-2016 school year was not the subject of […]

In State ex rel. Miller v. Pinkney, Slip Opinion No. 2017-Ohio-1335, the Ohio Supreme Court clarified that routine incident reports are public records that do not fall under the security records exemption of the Ohio Public Records Act. The case involved a public records request for “all offense or incident reports in the possession, custody, […]

The case of Struckman v. Teays Valley Local School Dist. Bd. of Edn., 2017-Ohio-1177, demonstrates the critical importance of contract language in transactions involving public entities. The case involves a real estate purchase by a school district of “approximately 70 acres of real estate” from a local farmer. Struckman at ¶ 6. The purchase […]

In Zanesville v. Jones, 2017-Ohio-1112, an Ohio appellate court found that strict compliance with the formalities of the Ohio Open Meetings Act are not necessary to support a conviction for disrupting a lawful meeting. The case involved the conviction of a citizen who “attended the regularly scheduled meeting of the Zanesville City Council” and filed […]